


Legends, When Read Between the Lines

by AquilaMage



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Multi, Polyamory, Retelling, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-05-04 06:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14586549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AquilaMage/pseuds/AquilaMage
Summary: Being the Goddess's chosen gets a bit more...interesting...when you're connected to one out of the loop of destiny's narrative.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this basically started as a way for me to write out some headcanons for a Skyward Sword au I've had floating around for a bit, and then I decided I wanted to put it out in the world. Partially because, hey, _someone_ else might enjoy it, partially because I decided I wanted the potential validation if I was going to write something that was turning out to be a decent length.  
>  Also a note: I haven't really edited this from being something where I didn't need to explain every detail since I knew my headcanons. Might do that later, but fair warning for that right now, I guess?

As the earliest rays of light were streaking through her bedroom window, Zelda was already slipping out the upper doors of the Knight Academy. She had to press herself inside the corner of the gate that separated the school from the rest of town to avoid the last sweep of the night guard, but her journey was otherwise uninterrupted. It helped that her path skirted the borders of Skyloft’s residential district to a path that was bordered on one side by a hill barely two people tall and on the other by the open air of an edge of the floating island. It was hardly even a path, really. A curious wanderer would simply think it an untamed grassy area, and be quite surprised when it suddenly gave way to a modest garden and a single door flanked by large windows in the hillside.

She paused before the door only to check that her cloak was completely covering her other clothing before checking the door open with her shoulder, stepping inside with the momentum. “Vayu!”

“Right here,” came a voice from the other side of the door. A young man stepped into view, wiping his hands on a towel before throwing it over a shoulder. “Wouldn’t have expected you today.” A beat. “You do know what day it is.”

Paying his concerned tone no mind, Zelda hugged him. “Of _course_ I do. That’s why I came!” In a motion she definitely hadn’t practiced a dozen times the previous night, she pulled the cloak off in a single elegant motion before letting it fall from her upraised hand like a curtain in front of her. “Ta da!” A few seconds to let him look, then she spun around to give the full effect. “What do you think?”

Vayu gave a low chuckle as he watched, one hand over his mouth.

“What?”

“Nothing. You’re adorable.” He picked up the hem of the blue apron that hung to one side of her waist. “This the same costume they use every year?”

“Ye- actually, I’m not sure.” Zelda looked down at herself. “I think so. Father was saying something about having to alter it, and it certainly feels old.” Stepping back abruptly, so that the fabric slipped out of Vayu’s grasp, she exclaimed. “Oh but it’s so fun, isn’t it? I didn’t get to see the ceremony last year because I passed out of having to take the test and then father wanted me to go-, and besides this isn’t even the whole outfit.” A small pout. “There’s this instrument I’m supposed to use that I have mostly figured out how to play, but I’m not allowed to take that off school grounds even more than the outfit, so, I guess you won’t be able to see it. Sorry.”

He gave a shake of his head. “It’s not a problem. I wasn’t even expecting to see you at all.” One hand skimmed her arm from shoulder to elbow before dropping back down to his side.

She put her hands on her hips. “What kind of a person do you take me for? Just because you can’t be at the ceremony because people are weird doesn’t mean I don’t want to include you!”

“I know,” he whispered. Then, a “you finished the sailcloth. Let me see,” while nearly tugging the knot holding it against her shoulders free on his own.

Zelda stiffened momentarily, so that the cloth fell off of her and had to be caught somewhere around her knees. Fidgeting with it to stall for time, she did her best to fold it presentably before holding it out as if for judging. As soon as it was in his hands, she turned away, a hand on the side of her face and the other curled around her side.

It took Vayu a moment before he could actually begin to examine the sailcloth, given that he was instead watching Zelda with a more than half-smile and partially closed eyes. Then he shook himself to attention.

The cloth itself was the same plain sturdy cloth every resident of the sky kept on their person to alleviate the issue of a falling impact when jumping from one’s loftwing to the ground of whatever rock they were landing on. However, in contrast to the usual bright colors and patterns that gave each a distinctive look, this was a simple pure white with the Academy’s symbol stitched into the middle in a pale blue thread. It was ever so slightly off center, with some sections more evenly filled in with threads than others.

“It’s beautiful.”

“You’re just saying that.” She shifted to cross her arms over her chest, still not looking in his direction. “There’s a reason I’ve always stuck to knitting.”

He frowned, folding the cloth over one arm before moving to face her. “Am not. It’s perfectly shaped, not to mention the border technique you picked is a bit more complicated than it needed to be. _And_ without even letting me touch it until now, let alone help you.”

Zelda’s pout broke for a second. “I wanted to do it myself.”

“And you did. Quite well.” He nudged her side with his hip. “Especially for a first try.”

“Karane’s complaints about my swearing late at night and the multiple trips I had to take to wash out blood before it set would beg to differ.”

“So hard on yourself.”

“Because you’re _never_ like that.”

Vayu dropped the cloth on her head. “Either way, Link’s still going to appreciate it.” When she moved to pull it off, he tugged it down further over her face, laughing.

“It’s not guaranteed Link will get it. There are other people in the ceremony, you know.”

“Pff. That pompous ass and his cronies hardly count as competition. Link would have to be in pretty bad shape to have them win.”

Zelda was troublingly silent as she swung the sailcloth back over her shoulders, knotting the ends in front of her.

“….wait, what?”

Clasping her hands together, she looked him in the eyes. “No, no, it’s not that bad, but I am slightly concerned. Just a little. Uh,” she spun one of her bracelets absently, “he just hasn’t seemed to be paying as much attention any time I’ve seen him practicing. You know how he gets, head in the clouds sometimes.”

Vayu glanced out the windows. “The ceremony’s what, at ten? You could talk him into some last-minute practicing, if you can get him up.” A smile.

“Oh I can manage _that_.” She grinned mischievously. In a sing-song tone, “You’re too nice with him, that’s all.” Bending down to pick up the cloak, she added, “But I should get going then. Still look presentable?”

Glancing her up and down, he nodded. “Yeah- wait, let me check, no, stop moving – here” Vayu stepped behind her. “Your hair was up, right?”

She huffed. “Not in anything I like. It’s so hard to work with, I don’t know how you manage.” Running her hand through her hair, she gathered it all together. “Ugh. Can you just, do something? with it, really fast? Like, that thing you did to yours when we snuck out to that festival last month?”

“Yes yes hold on.” In a few motions, the hair was gathered again, secured with a tie about three quarters of the way down her back. “Wait, do you have a ribbon or – thanks – there you go.”

“Thank you!” She stepped out the door, paused until he followed her out, then laughed, shoulders rolling with her breath. “We’ll come see you after, okay? As soon as they let us out of whatever celebration my father is bound to want to have.” A roll of the eyes. “Link says he found this new food merchant he wants us to try out.”

“Link _always_ has a new merchant.” He sighed, but in a fond way. “I’ll see you later then.” Leaning in towards her, he paused inches from her face. “May I?” When Zelda nodded, he pressed a single kiss to her mouth. “You’re going to be great.”

She giggled. “I know.” Then, her gaze became distant as it shifted far from the island to the open sky before them.

Vayu hesitated before gently laying a hand on her arm. “You alright?”

“Wha- uh, yeah. Yeah. Sorry, I just-“ Blinking a few times, she turned to fully face him. “I’m fine. Well…something I kind of want to discuss later. An all three of us thing” she twirled her wrist to make circling motions with her hand. A beat, then, “but nothing urgent, and it’s not a problem. Just something going on.”

Huh. That was a little weird, and vague, but he trusted that Zelda knew what she was doing. “Very well.” He came close to her face again. “If I may? Give this one to Link for me.” Another small kiss. “Tell him I say fly well.”

\---

Link was awoken from his nightmare by a loud squawking from somewhere above his head. Jolted into consciousness, he blinked as his vision adjusted to the streams of light coming in from his window. Although, there seemed to be something blocking most of it? His body was even groggier than his mind, and his arms ignored his thoughts about sitting up from the ground, being that he had woken up half out of bed, for some reason.

The shape in the window flung something at him that bounced off his head and slid towards the wall, gave another shriek, and exited from whence it came.

When he finally managed to sit up, the contents of his dream had already faded to the same haze and the vague impression of impending doom he had been getting for about a week now. Well, he figured it was the same. Being that he couldn’t remember the contents of any of the pseudo-nightmares, they could have all been different, but at the very least they left the same impression on him. Dang-pre ceremony nerves.

He picked up the envelope next to the few purplish feathers that had fallen on the floor, ruffling a hand through his hair as he read the contents.

“Hey, sleepyhead. I know how much you like to sleep in, so I’m guessing this letter will be your alarm clock this morning. Did I guess right? Rise and shine, Link! Today’s the Wing Ceremony! You promised to meet me before it starts, remember? You’d better not keep me waiting. -Zelda <3”

A fond sigh escaped him as he finished the letter. If he remembered correctly, it had been more like Zelda had hassled him about making sure he got up in enough time so much that he’d told her to wake him up herself. He propped open his window to let in some air.

….okay, it was _definitely_ earlier than when she’d promised to get him up. Like, barely after sunrise. He loved her, but what was she thinking?

Shaking his head, he threw on the clothes that had been left over the chair of his desk and headed out. He’d get into something more fitting for the ceremony when he was something actually approaching awakeness. It was a shame this was a school thing, because otherwise at least he would have had Vayu to defend him against Zelda’s relentless morning person personality.

He stumbled his way out the doors and through the sunlit grounds of the academy, finally making it up and into the area before the Statue of the Goddess. As he crossed through the archway, he saw Zelda standing in the center, back facing toward him, playing a golden harp. Much as he hated to ruin the moment, he also wanted to talk to her.

Upon hearing his approach, Zelda stopped playing and turned to face him. “Morning sleepyhead. I see my loftwing managed to get you out of bed.” Giggling, she reached over and extracted a feather from his hair. “But look at this instrument,” she held it up to him. “It’s supposed to be the same kind as the one the goddess used in the legends!” Then, she thrust it into his arms.

“And this outfit. I got you up extra early because I wanted you to be the first one at school to see me like this!” she said, spinning to give him the full effect. “How do I look?”

“Nice uhh… costume?” Link was trying his best to look unimpressed, but with Zelda’s indignant reaction, he lost composure entirely.

Hands on her hips, she frowned at him, taking a step closer in his direction. “And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?” When he just broke into laughter, she huffed, crossing her arms. “See if I come get you next time.”

That sobered him up a little. “No, no, Zelda, I was kidding, really-“

“I knooow.” She gave a tiny smile.

“You look cute,” he added.

Zelda rolled her eyes. “Ugh, that’s the same thing Vayu said. Just for that though, I’m not showing _you_ the sailcloth until after, so you better win.”

“Ah, there you are Zelda. Are you all prepared for today’s ceremony?”

“Oh, hello, father.” Link could see her stiffen ever so slightly at the man’s appearance.

The school headmaster towered over the two of them. “Ah, Link you’re here as well. Outstanding. It’s encouraging to see you up so early for once. No doubt the ceremony had you so excited you could hardly close your eyes, eh?” He nudged Link in what was clearly supposed to be a friendly manner.

Link chose not to comment. Although he had long accepted that everyone knew about and constantly commented on his need for extra sleep, he always felt weird when people actually brought it up. It wasn’t like he was being lazy, it was just how his body worked, and really only Zelda and Vayu had actually bothered to pay attention to that.

“If you win in today’s ceremonial race,” he continued, “you’ll get to participate in the postrace ritual with Zelda, so give it your best out there.”

Zelda and Link exchanged a Look. Her father (and a few other people) had been emphasizing that part to a degree that, upon examination and discussion, the three of them had decided was a little concerning. Since Link hadn’t gotten the stellar score on the written examinations given a few months previously, he would need to take the more trafficked route of winning at the Wing Ceremony to become a senior knight trainee, which was the important part. To the headmaster, it appeared, this was just another way to “subtly” push the idea of Link and Zelda being together. Well, at least, as Vayu had put it, “he’s not wrong, even if he’s not entirely right either.”

“Although victory will not come easily. Today’s ceremony tests the rider’s skill as much as his bond to his bird. And, not to concern, but I don’t think I’ve seen Link out practicing nearly as much as the other students.”

Zelda wouldn’t have really called what Groose and the others did ‘practicing’ either, but she did give Link a skeptical side-glance to let him know she also had issue with his training discipline. “Yes, and that’s part of why I wanted to see him. You see, I-“

“But really, you’ve known Link since you were both little.” Oh boy, they were going in for a full-blown Parental Ramble today, huh? “Link and his loftwing share a special connection, one that I don’t think any of us have seen anything like before. You know, as each of us in Skyloft is but one half of a pair, being only made whole by our loftwings, personally bestowed upon us by the Goddess as a symbol of divine protection. Even from the moment when Link met his bird under this very statue, we could tell they had an especially deep connection, what with him flying off right there and then, not even needing any instruction.” He laughed. “Now that is a sign of one blessed by the Goddess indeed!”

Link turned his gaze downward, rubbing the back of his neck, while Zelda looked off to the side. Yes, yes, what he was saying was true, but the both of them were less than comfortable with these teachings of the Goddess, given circumstances. Link especially, since in addition, people either had high, high expectations for him because of it or resented him for being special.

“This is nothing to laugh at, father.” Zelda managed eventually. “This ceremony is part of the final test for becoming a knight!” She knew how badly Link wanted this opportunity, and there was no way she was going to let him lose it, even if she did have to push his currently sleepy self around to get it. She took Link by the arm. “Listen, I know you’ll fly your heart out today, but you also need to squeeze in a little practice before the race!” Dragging him towards the nearest landing, she added, “Oh come on, I’m not the only one thinking it. You’ll thank me later.”

Link went along with her up to this point, partially because it was less effort than resisting, partially because she was right. Not to mention she’d phrased that last bit as coded ‘I talked to Vayu about this and he agrees with me,’ so he really didn’t have any room to argue. But there, at the edge, he pushed back against her as he came to a realization. “Zelda, hold on… I can’t sense my loftwing out there.”

“Ough, are you really trying to get out of having to practice? Nice try, but you’re not fooling me.” Before he could give anything more than a single “no, wait,” she pushed him off the edge. “Off you go!”

On instinct, Link went to call for his loftwing. When it didn’t appear even after a few seconds, he started to panic.

“His bird certainly is taking a long time getting here…” The headmaster commented.

“Shit,” Zelda said under her breath, and took a running leap towards him. She streamlined her body to catch up to him as best she could before calling her own loftwing to catch the both of them. It was a bit of a struggle with the extra weight, but they finally managed to make it back to solid island.

“Link, I- I’m sorry. I should have listened to you.” She reached out to where he was crouched next to her.

“Strange. For a loftwing to ignore the call of its rider, it’s unheard of.”

Zelda suppressed the urge to physically shoo her father away. “We’re going to need time to find his loftwing. Father, can you head back to the school and see if they can do anything about delaying the race a little?” When he headed off, she stood, brushing dirt off her dress. “I’ll fly around and see if I can spot them, alright? You should probably see if anyone in town has seen anything.” A look of concern crossed her face when he didn’t respond, and she reached out to him again.

With a sigh, he placed a hand on top of hers. “I’m fine. It’s just- _super_ weird that they’re not there, you know? Even when my loftwing’s been sick, they’ve at least been able to come around. And then, I could _tell_ that.” Smiling sadly, he got up and turned to go.

“Oh right, wait.” Zelda put a hand on each shoulder, turning him back to face her. “In case I don’t see you before the race starts, this is from Vayu.” She kissed him. “He says fly well. And I- I’m sorry for not listening to you earlier.”

He cupped the side of her face in one hand. “I know you meant well. Just- warn me next time you push me off something, alright?”

A laugh. “I’ll try. Now get looking.”

\---

Link had made it all the way through the school grounds and past the bazaar with no leads on anyone having seen his bird. He had just finished talking to Professor Orwell, who had appeared shortly after the bell at the school had started ringing to tell him that they were going to delay the ceremony for an hour, and was heading off to the residential area to see if he could find someone else to ask.

A moment later, Vayu poked out from inside a nearby bush.

He started. “Oh Goddes- oh, it’s you. Why are you always doing that?”

“Sorry. Saw Zelda. She told me what happened, and I wanted to come find you, but there’s not- you haven’t seen-?” He crouched down again, gaze darting from side to side even though the area was completely deserted.

“No, I saw them at the school, and they’re going to delay the race, so there’s no reason why they’d leave until then.”        

“ _Oh_. Good.” Vayu picked his way out of the shrubbery. “You questioned Groose and his cronies yet?”

“Groose?”

He gave Link a flat look. “From what I heard, it sounds like something’s interfering with your loftwing getting to you. If anyone was going to try to sabotage you, it’s him. Although where they got the creativity to try something like this, even with three of them, escapes me completely.”

“….I mean, you’re right.” He shrugged. “They’re not at the academy, so probably in the main square.” A pause as he slowly turned his gaze in that direction. “Ugh.” He glanced back over his shoulder at Vayu. “Come with me?”

“I’d rather not,… if it’s the same to you?” He was shifting his weight back and forth, tugging at the edge of a sleeve. “Just because there aren’t any of the sages there doesn’t mean there aren’t any off-islanders, I mean there usually are, especially with something this important, and-“

Link waved his hands in front of him. “Vayu. Vayu, it’s okay. I was mostly joking. I can go myself. Hey, look, why don’t you check around the residential area, see if anyone there’s heard anything?”

He took a couple deep breaths. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do that. Don’t go easy on them, alright?”

And with that, the two headed off their separate directions.

Fortunately (and unfortunately), Groose, Calwin, and Stritch were in fact at the main plaza, right by the lighthouse. As Link approached, he just caught the tail end of a conversation.

“…got this in the bag, man,” Cawlin said as he massaged Groose’s shoulders.

“Yeah.” Groose sniffed, running his hands over his ridiculous hairstyle. “With that wimp out of the way, no one else stands a chance against the mighty Groose! Not that he did, anyway.” As he finished the last sentence, he noticed the other two backing off. “What?”

“Ahem.”

When he turned around to see Link standing almost directly behind him, he only startled for a brief second (kind of impressive, even Link had to grudgingly admit) before standing as high as he could in an attempt to use his towering status to intimidate his classmate.

“Well well, look who finally decided to wake up.” He crossed his arms with a dismissive snort. “What’s your problem, anyway? Oh, wait…I got it.” He started circling Link as he ranted. “You’re here to talk about today’s race. I can see it in those dopey eyes of yours. They’re pleading, ‘Oh Groose, can you please find it in your heart to let me win today? You’re just desperate to win so you can get some alone time with Zelda.”

Link rolled his eyes. Literally no one else in the sky would ever have thought to have said that sentence, ever. Even without knowing they were actually already involved (which no one outside the relationship did), anyone who paid the slightest amount of attention would know that Link and Zelda were good good friends, hardly making him someone “desperate” for a bit of time with her. If anyone was desperate, it was Groose.

Speaking of. Groose chose that moment to stick his face in front of Link. “Well, sorry, pal. Groose doesn’t do charity for wimps. My advice? Work hard and wish with all your heart. You might even come in second.”

_I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone refer to themself in the third person so much. Conceited much?_ None of Groose’s posturing was really anything new, so irritating as it was, Link found himself tuning it out a bit.

“…Say, come to think of it, how come I don’t see your bird? Where is that scruffy pile of red feathers? I can’t imagine what could’ve happened to him. Do you think his tiny brain got confused by all the clouds and got lost?”

Really. Really? It had been pretty obvious Groose was behind his bird’s disappearance as soon as Vayu had pointed it out, but Link wouldn’t have thought he would be so bold…or dumb, to basically taunt him about it in public. Link huffed.

Then, under his breath but clearly making sure Link could hear, he added, “Or maybe you’ve been hanging around the freak too long and it’s starting to rub off…”

Link tensed. Then, when he noted that there wasn’t anyone close enough to have heard, it was replaced with anger. “ _Leave him out of this_ ,” he growled. “you want to mess with me, fine. In fact, you know what? Bring it on.”

“Pfft.” Groose leaned back from him, arms crossed. “Sure. Only thing is, I don’t know how you’re going to do that with no bird! You gonna grow wings? Hey, maybe you should ask-“

“ _Shut up_!”

Quickly bringing his hands in front of him in response to the outburst, Groose watched for a moment before a smirk blossomed on his face. “And here I actually got worried for a second!” He laughed and he fell back to a relaxed posture. “See, this is what I’m talking about. You float through life with your head in the clouds, just because you ‘go way back’ with Zelda and always have her defending you. Would you wake up, straighten up, and grow a backbone already?” He pointed a finger at Link, close enough he was almost poking him in the face. “Dopes like you are dragging our honored academy through the mud.”

“And just who might you be talking about, Groose?” Zelda was standing at the far side of the square, hands on her hips.

“Oh, Zelda!” Groose sprung back from Link, hands going to adjust his hair as he spoke. “Hey. Nah, it’s nothing. Just, you know, a little bit of friendly pre-race banter.”

With a huff, she cleared the distance in a few steps, almost pushing Link to the side to stand between the boys. “Don’t even try it, Groose.” She copied his move from earlier, forcing him to take a step back to avoid the seemingly very real possibility of having an eye taken out in her fervor. “Just because Link is above getting into some stupid fight with someone twice his size doesn’t mean anything! He’s a student at the academy, like all of us.” Her gaze hardened even more, if that were possible. “And may I remind you that as a senior, I’m responsible for making sure all of the junior trainees are acting according to the standards of ‘our honored academy.’ If I catch you stepping out of line…”

Admirably, Groose did try to match her stare, but failed within seconds. “Yeah, well… It’s not like I am doing anything wrong, so you’re not going to find anything!” He swung around so his back was to her. “Ok, we’re outta here, boys.” Starting off towards the diving platform, he only turned once at the edge and joined by the other two. “Later, Link! Hope you find your bird, or else you're gonna have to sit out today's race! That could be a major setback toward knighthood, so find that bird or get real used to the taste of failure! It's your special flavor.” The three jumped off the edge in unison, soaring off moments later.

“…how long d’you think they practiced that before they could do it without knocking into each other or falling?”

“Too long.” Zelda crossed her arms. “Ugh. I only heard that last bit, but I doubt they actually gave anything that could actually be useful, huh?”

A sigh. “Nope. Not even something we could even slightly use to argue it with the school either.”

“Figures. Well, if we can’t do it the easy way, we’ll have to make the hard way work.” She stared off into the distance. “Problem is, I can’t think of that many places they could have hidden your loftwing on Skyloft. Ummm…there’s a cave somewhere in the woods by the hills, right?”

Link stared at her. “Is there?”

Throwing her hands up in the air, she said, “I don’t really know, it was just something Vayu had mentioned finding when he was out climbing one time.” A thoughtful look. “But I think he also said it opened out into the island face at one point… Okay. You see if you can find him, check out the area on foot. I’m going to fly around that area and see if I can locate anything from that angle.”

It took a few more precious minutes than he would have liked to get to Vayu, sneak back into the academy and out with a sword, and head through the woods until they reached the base of the waterfall that provided the water for Skyloft. The two exchanged few words as Vayu pointed out the opening neatly obscured by a section of fallen rocks that made it impossible to reach without clambering over some of them, and the two entered the cave.

The inside was just annoyingly damp enough to get on the nerves, only slightly mitigated but the soft echoes of the waterfall and their own footsteps.

“I thought there were supposed to be monsters in here.” Link drew tiny patterns with his sword as he held it at his side, watching as if daring something to come out of the shadows.

Vayu ducked around a stalagmite. “Supposedly. I haven’t been in here. It kind of freaks me out. Besides,” he added as he fell back into step as they followed a particularly lengthy stretch. “that’s a good thing, because if there were any, you’d be on your own, and while I seem to remember you were always decent with combat practice, it’s not like you’ve actually fought anything.”

 The comment stopped Link in his tracks for a second, and he let out a halfhearted “excuse you,” but it wasn’t as if Vayu was wrong. Sure, he’d only done some practice drills with other students and instructors, but even fully fledged knights rarely encountered anything more threatening than a few chus. “Shit!”

Both of them ducked to the ground as a shadow detached itself from the wall and flew at their heads. Vayu pressed himself against the wall. He gave Link a look accompanied by a shake of the head in the direction the thing had gone.

Sighing, Link tiptoed over, sword held in front of him in a defensive pose. “Pff. It’s only a keese,” he called. “Yah!”

In reaction to the sudden sound, the keese had taken flight once more, this time cutting into his arm with its tiny claws.

Spinning around to where he had felt it go, Link spun around again when he failed to locate the keese among the shadows. As he moved, his grip on the sword loosened so that he was really just dragging it along beside him. There was a shuffling noise above him. He swung the sword, feeling it connect with something solid. However, the impact put him off balance and he stumbled, catching another scratch, this time on his shoulder, before he could get another hit. This one sent the creature plummeting to the ground before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

“Is that what it’s supposed to look like?” Vayu was curled up in a ball, arms crossed over the top of his head.

Link sighed, sheathing his sword. “You know, we can probably get you something, and then you can have a go at it.”

“Heh. No, thank you,” he said as he made his way over to the other. “As far as I know, there’s no way of ripping the magic out of someone’s hands and turning it against them, so I’ll stick with that, thanks.” Shushing Link’s attempts to make some kind of comeback (probably), he grabbed at the wrist of Link’s arm, using the leverage to hold it straight. “You’re bleeding.”

Before Link could argue that it was only a mild scratch, Vayu had already retrieved a length of bandage and started wrapping it as they went.

They stepped through the next opening to finally see open sky again. A narrow ledge wound its way across the island face, which, as they followed it, led to a small natural platform in the open and then another cave face.

“Link! Vayu!” Zelda directed her loftwing’s glide as close to the platform as she could, jumping off close enough that the boys had to catch her in their arms to keep all three of them from stumbling to the ground. “Hey,” she breathed. “I went over this spot like twice before. Let me tell you, it is really well camouflaged.” Perking up at Link, she leaned to get a look over their shoulders. “You find your bird yet?”

Link slid his arms out from the tangle of their limbs. “Not yet, but…” He turned his head, feeling out. “I think I feel him?” A hand gripped the handle of his sword. “Let’s go find out.”

This cave was shallow, only turning once before dead-ending, with the tail end being barricaded off with a number of planks, behind which shrieking could be heard. Link severed the ropes holding the wood up with his sword, barely waiting for them to hit the ground before bounding to meet his loftwing.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok, I’m right here. Those jerks didn’t hurt you, did they?” He hugged the bird around the neck. “I’m glad you’re safe, buddy. Come on, we have a race to win.”

Once outside, Link’s loftwing immediately stretched its wings out and took off. Laughing, Link ran to the edge to meet it, stopping right before he actually jumped. “Right! Vayu, maybe you should take this.” he began unbuckling the sword, “I don’t want you running into monsters alone.”

“Nah.” Vayu leaned off the edge slightly, craning his neck upwards. “We’re not that much lower than the main level. I think.”

Furrowing his brow, Link nudged him away from the ledge. “Ohhh no you don’t.”

“Why? It’s a short distance, it hasn’t rained it days, and this section of the island tends to have a lot of good ledges and bumps. That’s pretty much nothing. Besides,” he poked Link in the chest, “I have way more experience with climbing than fighting monsters, so it’s far safer.”

“And that’s exactly what worries me! I know it’s something you like, and yeah, wind magic makes it so it’s not really an issue if you do fall…at least that’s how you keep explaining it, but it’s just-“ Waving his arms a little frantically now, Link stared at Vayu, trying to get him to back down. “I mean it’s still hanging over empty air and I know it’s kind of the same as flying when you put it that way, but… Ugh, Zelda, help me out here. ….Zelda?”

“Huh?” When the two turned to her, Zelda was staring out into the sky, a slightly empty look on her face. Eventually she blinked and turned to them, giving an attempt at a smile. “Sorry, I guess I got distracted for a moment. We should really get going though, Link. The ceremony should be starting any minute.”

The boys exchanged a look. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I-I just…thought I heard something, and it felt almost like it was calling out to me. Like, from under the clouds and-“ She shook her head as if to clear something out. “This isn’t a good time. But later, I will, promise. I’ve been wanting to, but…yeah.”

Vayu sighed. “Alright you two. Shoo, go do your thing. Kick Groose’s butt, show everyone else up with how awesome you both are, keep Zelda from fighting the sages, _try_ to enjoy the party.” And as the other two waved goodbye and jumped off to meet their loftwings, he added, “But do sneak off some point tonight and we can all talk it over. I’ll see you then!”

\---

It was closer than she would have liked – she’d been right the day before when she’d told Link “the chances of Groose letting you have a fair race are just about less than zero” – but in the end it had been Link to grab the statuette and earn the right to graduate to the senior class. As he flew back towards the crowd in the square, she joined him on her own loftwing, startling him for a second. “Hah, sorry. But that was amazing flying out there! Now, come on, let’s get on with the ceremony.”

When they arrived at the statue of the Goddess, a small crowd had gathered around the base, a small crowd had gathered. Zelda glanced down at them from the platform above, and, once she had moved to a spot so she couldn’t quite be seen from below, stuck her tongue out.

“ _Zelda_ ,” Link cautioned.

“What? They can’t see me.” She sighed as he continued to give her a slightly judgmental look. “I know, the Order of Hylia is really good overall, and they’re mostly the ones from Skyloft anyway, but it’s the principle of the thing.” Huffing, she motioned downward to let the observers know the ceremony was to start. “Link, please hand me the statuette.”

As she placed it in the carved-out section of the statue, she recited the lines of the ritual that had been drilled into her head for the past month or so: “Great goddess, guiding light and protector of our people, grant us your blessing and mercy as I act in your stead during this ceremony.” And then under her breath, “and try not to smite me or whatever for disagreeing with certain teachings. If you’re at all reasonable, you’d agree with me anyway.”

Then, she turned back around to Link, who had knelt on the stone, holding her hands out above him. “Valiant youth who grasped victory at the celebration of the bird folk... In accordance with the old ways... I now bestow the blessings of the goddess upon you.” Reaching back to untie the cloth around her shoulders, she continued, “The blessings of the goddess drift down from the heavens aloft a sail, which I now pass on to you.”

Link took the cloth in both hands, letting the edges spill over as he examined the embroidered pattern in the middle. “You made this yourself?”

“Yeah,” she said, a little shortly, crossing her arms before she could remember herself. Then, the tension in her shoulders dropped as she noticed the way Link ducked his head at her comment. “Yes. I’m glad I got to give it to you, since I spent so much time and effort and blood into it. Not that you can tell!” She brightened, standing straighter, hands going to her hips in emphasis with the last word.

Link laughed, running his thumb over the blue emblem of the academy and the goddess.

“But seriously, thanks for making it up here to do this with me today like you promised. Now, we really should finish up this ritual. Wouldn’t want to keep them waiting.” A moment’s hesitation. “You… do know what happens at the end, right?”

Raising his eyebrows, he tilted his head back towards the courtyard, shifting his legs further apart to drop his weight. “Maybe….”

Her arms, which had just drifted to a neutral position at her sides, flew back to her sides as she dipped her head, one shoulder higher than the other. “Uch! Hey, I told you earlier, I’m not going to push you off the edge without warning!” A sigh, then she relaxed, clasping her hands together in front of her. “But yeah. To finish the ceremony, you need to drop down right into the center of that round design in the courtyard. Something about how the Goddess gifted a sailcloth to her chosen hero and this echoing that by symbolizing the trust we have in her gifts to provide for us or something…”

Link smiled at her, a little dreamily. He didn’t doubt how much she hated the organized religious support for Hylia, but it was also super clear that she did actually care for the legends themselves. It was super cute when she did things like this, describing things with that light in her eyes. She didn’t do that nearly as much as when they were kids – a little more lately once they’d reassured her it wasn’t hypocritical at all – and he was glad to see it now. He gave her one little wave before he jumped off the edge, sailcloth clutched tightly in both hands.

The next few hours after that were a blur of congratulations as seemingly everyone in the school (even Groose muttered a halfhearted one, although obviously mostly for the sake of posterity) and town made their way to Link at some point, and the general ambiance of a celebration within outer courtyard of the school. It wasn’t that bad, actually. Link enjoyed being around people, and most of them there were people he considered friends.

Later into the evening, about an hour before dark, he found Zelda sitting in a chair in the corner, the cloth she had had fastened to her belt draped over her shoulders as she nursed a mostly-empty glass of milk in her lap.

She perked up immediately once she noticed him. “Oh thank Hylia.” Standing so she didn’t have to strain her neck upwards to talk to him, she dropped her voice to a whisper. “You think it’s good to sneak out now?”

“Safe a time as any, I think.” And he took her hand and led her inside the school proper, making as if to wander the corridors before emerging onto the open upper level. From there, he broke into a run towards the nearest diving platform, laughing as Zelda stumbled to hurry and catch up with him.

Breathlessly, they both landed on their loftwings, the echoes of their laughter dying away as they flew a distance from the island.

“Do a loop around before we head over?”

“Oh definitely.”

As they passed though a cloud, Zelda looked over to Link. The late-evening light reflected off him in reds and oranges, so that he matched his bird even more than usual. She let herself watch him direct his bird with the most fluid motions she had seen, barely needing to nudge them before getting a response, eyes closed the whole time with the most peaceful expression. As they rounded over the far side of the island, she called out. “Hey Link… today was amazing. Watching the race and performing the ritual with you…it was really nice.”

He smiled, then stuck his tongue out at her, directing his loftwing closer to hers in a playful nudge, as if he would really run into her.

Her retort was cut off as a sudden shift in the wind pressure pulled her bird off-course. “Ah! What is going-“ She gripped her loftwing’s feathers as it tried to flap against the storm of wind that pushed her further and further down. The last thing she saw before being engulfed in darkness was the distant figure of Link growing farther away.


	2. Chapter 2

Link rolled over in bed for at least the fourth time in the past hour. He lay there staring up at the ceiling for a minute, sat up, squinted at the shutters of his window, and flopped back down on the bed. Only to softly curse as his bruises flared into pain again from the impact. After an indeterminate amount of quiet that felt like hours but was probably three minutes, he lifted his legs up and kicked them against his mattress a few times.

How was he supposed to sleep when Zelda had just disappeared? Her father had believed him when he told him about the tornado, but then insisted that Link go back to resting and recover from his injuries. Yes, it was nighttime, but there were _some_ knights who had specially trained to fly at night! They didn’t even know where she was, if she was alright, sure she it wouldn’t matter much to wait until morning if she had found some island to land on, but if not she would be out there flying lost for hours, and loftwings had no sense of direction at night, and they couldn’t keep flying _that_ long and-

He twisted to the side, curling his legs up to his torso, and squashed his pillow over his face. _This isn’t helping! It’s not like_ you _could do anything about it right now anyway. She’ll be alright. She_ has _to be alright._

Sleep came, slowly and not easy, but in time Link dozed off. Shortly afterward, though, he heard a voice in his ear, like if bells could whisper. And there was a presence hovering above him. He sat up in bed, but there was nothing out of place in the room. Padding over to the door, he cracked it open just enough to peek his head out into the hall, ready to retract if this turned out to be a set-up for a prank.

Instead, at the base of the stairs a shining blue and purple figure in the shape of a girl floated. When he looked its way, the figure inclined its head to him, and then flew up the stairs with a liquid shimmering noise and a trail of diamond sparkles.

“Ooookay.” He rubbed his eyes, counted to ten. Pinched the skin of his wrist. Nope, definitely awake. Another short pause, then a huge shrug that was more of a roll of the shoulders. He gave a long exhale and then shut his door, creeping up the stairs to follow the apparition.

\---

Link emerged from the dormitory at the earliest part of sunrise that could still technically be called that. He drew the Goddess Sword, examining it as he held it flat in both hands. It might have been just him, but he thought it was a little heavier now that the spirit that possessed it had returned. As he stared into its reflection, impressively bright given how only the barest streaks of light touched the horizon, he tried to steady himself, remember all that had just been told to him.

Magical swords with sentient beings inhabiting them, a vast land below the clouds, destinies supposedly laid out by the Goddess herself…. Heavy, but all that was secondary to the first thing Fi had told him. Zelda was still alive out there, and he was going to get her back, no matter what. The last vision he had seen of her played in his mind, falling through the tornado, a chance encounter as they had-

He froze, the jolt of his limbs scratching the sword over his palm ever so slightly. “Shit,” he whispered under his breath. “Vayu.”

\---

“So let me see if I have this right,” Vayu said as he peeled the bandage from yesterday off Link’s shoulder. “You two get caught up in a freak windstorm. Zelda disappears and when you wake up, a spirit appears and leads you to the sword it inhabits. She tells you that Zelda is some kind of ‘spirit maiden’ and that she’s on the Surface. And that you’re the Goddess’s chosen hero and you have to go there and fight some mysterious dark forces to get her back.”

“…Yeah, pretty much.”

He was quiet as he finished laying on the fresh bandage. Then, he groaned and leaned forward, head resting against Link’s back. “And you’re sure there’s no way this wasn’t just a really weird dream, right?”

Link shifted on the couch. “Can you not- it feels weird having hair touch my back; I don’t know how you guys stand it.”

“Baby.”

"And no.” He stretched over to reach the sword propped against the wall. “Or else where would I have gotten this? Besides, Zelda’s dad was there too.”

“…” Vayu crossed his arms, frowning. “But you have no idea what this really involves, what’s down there or what you have to actually do or anything, right?”

“No. But it’s not like that’s going to stop me, considering.” Link sighed, relaxing the grip on the scabbard until it rested in his lap. Then he noticed the way Vayu was looking off into the distance. Following what he figured Vayu’s trail of thought would be, he inhaled sharply as an anxious feeling began to settle in his stomach. “Look, Vayu, I know you’re worried, but, uh….”

“I can’t come with you. I know.” He continued to stare off, voice kept coolly neutral.

Link flinched. He leaned forward, waving his hands as he talked. “Well it’s not exactly- I mean… It’s not like I wouldn’t want you! But…”

Vayu gave him the looking-over-your-glasses-at-someone-judgingly look, but without actually having glasses. “I’m not upset.” Then he leaned back so he was stretched out over most of the couch, legs tucked between the cushions and Link and his head balanced on the arm. “Alright, I am a little. But that’s me being dumb about it.” He waved a hand. “Hush.”

“I wasn’t-“

“You were,” he said, head still inclined so he was watching the ceiling. “It’s true and you know it. This is a mission appointed to you by the Goddess herself, supposedly. Your prophecy didn’t exactly mention a third party, and I doubt the Goddess would look favorably on her champion taking someone removed from her grace on a mission of this kind of importance. _Besides_ ,” he added, poking Link in the side as best he could with his leg, “it’s not like I could even practically go anyway. Where, exactly, did you say the opening to the Surface was? At least an hour’s flight, right?” He finally sat up, gently smiling. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

He had a point, but Link pouted at him anyway. It was the principle of the thing. “Fine. Although now that I’m thinking about it, I really would feel better if I had someone else around, and you are first choice.”

“Yes, well, it can’t be helped.”

Link relaxed a little, leaning his side into the back of the couch. Burrowing his head in between the top part of the back of the couch and the wall, he said, “This does scare me, though. A lot.” A deep breath, struggling a little to get it out. “I-it’s just…so much.”

 The sound of weight shifting on the couch, the cushion he was on lowering, and then a warm pressure wrapping itself around Link. “I know, I know. It’s okay.” Vayu curled his fingers through Link’s hair. “Maybe I can’t go with you, but I am going to do everything I can to support you.” He pulled back, holding Link at arm’s length. “Got it?”

“Yeah.”

“Link. Link, I know you can do this.” Vayu softened. He gently peeled Link away from the edge of the couch so they were facing each other again. “You’ve made it this far in training to be a knight for good reason, and, you know, this is _pretty_ much the same thing. Similar. Whatever.”

Link couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. “I guess.”

“And you _care_. I know you’re not normally aggressive, but this is about _Zelda_. I mean,” he took Link’s hand in his own, squeezing it gently. “you remember when I told you about my incident with the Order? And how you got so upset you accidentally broke the arm of Zelda’s one chair and said you would fight them?”

He ducked his head down, but Vayu managed to catch the beginnings of a blush on his face. “Yeah,” he said in a small voice.

“Exactly. Just to what you did to the chair to the face of the person who took her!”

“Vayu no.” Link sat up and took his other hand, firmly swinging them both. “Not like that. Rescue, yes. Senseless beating, no.”

“ _Fine_ ,” he mock-sighed, shaking his head.

They stayed like that for a while, a moment of calm before things had to break off. Sliding his hands out of the other’s grip, Link said, “Can I put my shirt back on now?”

“Is the stuff I put on for your bruises dry?”

“Yes,” he said, already getting off the couch and picking up the first layer of the uniform.

Vayu stretched from where he was still sitting as he watched. “It’s certainly an improvement.”

A muffled “what?” came from inside the shirt Link was struggling to get over his head.

“An improvement. The color of the uniform for this year.”

Finally tugging the material free of his head, he reached over to pick up the mail. “I guess. Yellow isn’t that bad.”

“Not with Zelda’s hair color.” He got up and started wandering to the kitchen/medicine ingredient storage area. “Practically blends in, but just off enough that it doesn’t quite.”

“True. But if she keeps up like she does it’ll eventually have enough mud stains that won’t be an issue anyway.”

A comfortable silence settled as Link finished dressing to the various clinks and shuffling noises of things moving in the pantry. It could almost have been like a normal morning. Almost.

Vayu came over and sat down on the chair next to where Link was currently fiddling with the straps on his boots. Without a word, he slid a plate across the table.

“What about you?”

“I’m not the one going anywhere. Besides, I need to go find something that will help you,” he said, standing up and walking off around the corner to his sleeping area.

Link shrugged and started eating. He wasn’t about to complain about having breakfast, especially since it wasn’t school food.

When he returned, it was carrying a small drawstring bag that clinked when he set it down on the table.

“Mmmf,” Link said through a slice of bread, waving his fork in Vayu’s direction.

“Don’t talk with food in your mouth.” He pulled the other bag onto his lap as he sat back down. “And I’m not giving you more than I can afford, although Goddess knows I would if you needed it for this. Look, you should be able to get a shield from the academy, but if you can’t then you’re going to have to hope there’s a travelling merchant who happens to have one, and even if they do it won’t be cheap. Otherwise, I want to make sure you have the best possible supplies and- Oh, right. When you stop at the potion shop, tell Luv you’re calling in the favor she owes me and that you want one of those really nice glass bottles that you can actually use more than once instead of a skin. And make sure she gives you at least two servings of a basic potion.”

Having finished eating, Link rolled his eyes as he slid the plate back across the table.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He hesitated, then dragged the pouch towards himself. “You’re cute when you get concerned. Anything else?”

“I wish I had more I could give you, but no.” Standing up, he gestured toward the door. As they crossed the threshold, Vayu tugged Link into a hug. “Bring her back safe. But…take care of yourself too, alright?” Pushing him back so he could look at him, he said, “If you can come back in between whatever you end up doing, just…let me know how things are going?”

He nodded wordlessly.

“Be safe. Well, as safe as you can be, I suppose. I love you.”

A second into turning to go, Link whirled back and hugged Vayu once more. He kissed him, once, and said “We’ll be back before you know it. I promise.”

\---

“Okay, so falling out of the sky and landing in a beam of light? Being some “spirit maiden” chosen by the Goddess? Mission to save the world? I can get all that. What I can’t understand is why Hylia would send me on a giant dangerous mission involving this much travel _in an outfit that doesn’t involve pants_.” Zelda walked back into the temple proper, arms held out to accentuate the draping sleeves of her new pure-white dress. “I mean, really. It’s like she left the costuming detail to a guy.”

The old woman sighed. “Your garb symbolizes the form which the Goddess herself took, as you are now to be her emissary.”

“Yeah, but the Goddess probably had some dirt-repelling magic going on.” Kicking at the ground with the edge of her new sandal, she pulled at the sides of the skirt. “Ask anyone who knows me; this is going to get gross about five seconds after I step outside.”

It was actually already happening. As the girl moved her foot, she was loosening the dust of the temple floor. The dress’s hemline was a little too high to catch it, but the woman could tell there would be scuff marks on the shoes if this kept up. “….Very well. Keep those garments safe while you travel for use while you meditate and purify yourself so that you may connect with the Goddess.”

Zelda flapped her hands. “Yesss,” she whispered as she collected her other outfit. “Knew putting on pants under the costume was a brilliant idea.”

When she returned, yet again, the woman looked her up and down before nodding. “One last thing before you depart. Since it seems fate has decided to separate you from the chosen champion, I’m afraid your way going will be much more difficult.” 

“Oh, _that_.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Link does alright in combat classes, but I have a whole year over him. Besides, I also pack a mean punch. Or so I assume, from how bullies tend to react.”

“Yes, well.” The old woman coughed. “This is not a question of ability, I am afraid. The nature of your appearance indicates that a strong force of evil is already active. Should you be spotted by monsters and allow even one to escape, the likelihood of them alerting their leader is high, and I am afraid this is one whose ability far outclasses either of yours combined at the moment. Escape would be nigh impossible, and I do not think I need to explain what that would mean for all of us.”

“Oh.” Deflating visibly, she clutched her bag of belongings closer to her chest. “Good thing I’m great at hiding too?”

“Indeed. Let us hope that will not be necessary though. Hylia’s blessings be upon you on your journey, child.”

\---

Long enough later that she'd lost track of the time, Zelda was crouched in the dirt of the space between the roots of a tree, breath heavily regulated as she struggled to both calm herself and keep from doing anything that would attract the attention of the monsters right below the ledge she was currently on. Things had been going so well up until the point where she had noticed the strangely bulbous yellow fruits hanging from a tree and climbed up to investigate. The stem connecting it had been far more fragile than what would be expected, given the fruit’s size, and it had tumbled to the ground between her fingers, the noise attracting a few of those red creatures she’d glimpsed once before in her trek. Fortunately, they hadn’t seen her, as she had dived down to the far side of the tree to where she was huddled now, waiting.

The screeching noises and odd shuffling only continued, however, and as the minutes creeped on and her insides twisted in on themselves more and more, she resolved that the best way out of this mess was, in fact, out. As in leaving. Swinging her legs over the non-monster-occupied side of the ledge, she slid down feetfirst, tucking and rolling as she landed. Freeze. No change in the sound coming over. Without a glance backwards, she jogged up the next incline she could find, coming up to another flat area that quickly dropped off again. But if she could spring off that boulder near the cliff, she should be able to get enough height to-

“Kwee!”

"Agh!” Zelda fell backward as the very squashy Definitely _Not_ A Rock rose from the forest floor to reveal a massive brown-and white teardrop shaped figure.

“…you do not appear to be a monster,” the creature said.

“No.” She scooted back a little further, just to be safe. “Are you?”

“Kwee heh heh. Of course not. I am the elder of the forest kikwi, Bucha.” He waved his incredibly tiny arms. “But if you are not a monster, then you are very brave to be out in the forest, especially without camouflage such as ours.”

Pushing herself up with her hands, she walked toward the kiwki. “I don’t exactly have a choice. I need to get to the temple in the deepwoods.” She glanced around. Unless he was going to give her directions, she knew she needed to go before she got sidetracked talking to someone else. She’d already spent what was probably too much precious time listening to that rock-man spout outrageous fantasies about her world, even as amusing as they were.

A screeching in the distance sent the elder into a fit of tremors, quickly throwing himself to the side and back into camouflage mode. When Zelda didn’t move beyond scanning the area for visible monsters, he whispered, “The deep woods are even more dangerous than here right now, koo wee.” His beady eyes shifted in a direction about the opposite of where she had come from, presumably towards her destination. “We would be more than willing to let you stay with us, where it’s safe and-“

Zelda, who had backed up as he spoke, suddenly bounded towards him, landing with both feet on his exposed belly to vault off and over to the other side of the gap. She took a second to catch her breath while crouched in the grass, dusted her hands off on her dress, and took off again.

\---

Vayu paced around his house, wringing his hands. Three days. It had been _three days_ and in that time he’d prepped the empty garden spaces for planting, dusted every imaginable surface, and re-rearranged his work desk twice, on top of the usual odd jobs he ran for Skyloftians and regular merchants to the bazaar. He picked up a book off from the stand next to the couch. Some reading might help get his mind off-

One glance at the writing on the inside cover had him dropping it back down with a light thud. No. Nope, that was one of Zelda’s books (in hindsight not surprising, she had more books here than he did, however that had ended up happening). Bad thoughts, bad thoughts.

A few minutes of him just pulling at the ends of his hair ensued, accompanied by ragged, deep breaths. Then he gave a full-body shudder, shook his head, and burst out the door. The direct light and lungfulls of crisp air gradually settled his head. _They’ve both been gone far longer than this, at less notice sometimes, and it’s always turned out fine. Sure, this is on a completely different scale, but… Ah, Goddess! This is_ completely _worthy of being terrified about. But, Vayu what_ good _is worrying going to do, huh? Things are dangerous for the both of them, and you worrying instead of using your position as safest and one with the most free time certainly won’t get them out of it any faster._

Nodding to himself, he walked back inside, reemerging with a sense of purpose in his step as he strode off towards the waterfall. Normally, he would have taken a longer route that avoided going into the path of the trading district, but this time in the afternoon meant that everyone would be too busy to really pay him any mind. He only finally paused when he reached a spot rather close to the one where he and Link had found the cave a few days prior. But this time, his destination was in a far more vertical location.

Creeping towards the edge of the island, Vayu examined the skies in every direction of him before sliding a grappling hook out of the bag over his shoulder and hefting it up in the direction of the small floating rock above. Giving the rope a sharp tug to ensure its stability, he started up its knotted surface. Once up, it was a few minute’s pause before he repeated the maneuver on the remaining couple of rocks, until he was upon the highest point of Skyloft, the bowl-shaped island from which the source of the island’s water flowed down to the lake below.

He gave a small sigh as he removed his climbing gear. Here, with no obstructions, the wind tugged even more persistently at him, dancing across the palm of his hands, more sensitive from having just removed gloves, and blowing hair and the now-loose ends of his sleeves in every direction. _Now_ he could sit and actually get some planning done.

Zelda’s end was a bit easier to deal with. Without being able to contact her, he didn’t know what she was going through, making it nearly impossible to assess her needs. However, seeing as her mission was tied to the Goddess, any information about the legends could potentially hold something useful. Well, sneaking into the academy library wouldn’t be too hard; he still knew most of the staff and they would be more than willing to let him in. Zelda’s room, likewise. The only trouble spot was the local temple of Hylia. Yes, they would have the most information, and it had been years and a completely different place and he’d changed his name, but… Well, still best not to push one’s chances. There were plenty of people who owed him various favors – as much as tying himself to that many people was a little unsettling in ways he couldn’t quite put into words, he’d quickly realized that being useful was enough of a shorthand for likeability that it meant people would hesitate to turn against him. You know, should that possibility become an issue again.

Link, on the other hand… Vayu had to presume he would be facing monsters, given that he had been gifted that sword, but again, the details he’d been relayed by the sword spirit had been incredibly vague. That and it involved a world much more expansive than any of the islands in the sky. So… more potions, basic medical supplies, if he could find any weapons that Link might use, supplies to repair or improve what he already had, be ready with sewing supplies so he could repair his gear when he came back…

Plenty to start with. Besides, it wasn’t as if he even knew whether he _would_ see Link again before things were over.

He shook his head violently. _That’s it, no more thinking right now_. Pulling his legs out from the water, he gathered everything back into his bag. A few steps took him to the edge overlooking the waterfall. One foot half over, curled into the edge of the cliff. Another step, then another. Vayu only opened his eyes once he was completely out over open air. Wind currents buffeted his hair up and across his face – he really should have braided it back like usual but this just felt more _right_ – as they held him in place. It wasn’t a perfect stillness; he was drifting up and down rather than held in stasis, but that was to be expected.

He heard a loftwing’s squawk in the distance behind him, losing focus just long enough to drop a few feet before he could coax another current of air to catch him. Doing this out in this visible a spot wasn’t exactly the best of ideas. Having a boyfriend who was friends with most of the knights current and in training, and a girlfriend who was more than willing to intimidate those who weren’t meant that Vayu wasn’t about to be harassed by some knight on patrol freaking out about him “putting himself into danger” or “going where you’re not really supposed to, for safety, you understand,” but still. While magic wasn’t uncommon among the sky’s residents, he was pretty sure he was the only one trying to harness it for flight-related purposes (ignoring the fact that he couldn’t _fly_ fly yet), and that kind of sticking out always made him nervous.

With a sigh, he straightened out his arms, palms up, and lifted them, urging the wind as he did so. He was improving there too, it seemed. Only the first twinges of a headache confronted him as he touched ground again. Another quick rest, then, and onto the academy before it closed to visitors for the evening.

\---

“Master Link, I have detected Zelda's aura emanating from within this structure.” Fi emerged from Link’s sword as he stumbled down the final hill on his path towards the gigantic building. She continued as he stopped to lean on a nearby tree, “However, I have also detected the presence of numerous monsters. Are you sure you want to proceed?” Her face and voice were impassive as always, so it was probably him projecting an air of concern.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to act as though it was there. Link dropped to the ground, wiping his forehead with the back of one gloved hand, only to grimace when it left a streak of mud that was even more annoyingly itchy. After struggling to clear _that_ off, he realized that the sword spirit was still hovering before him. Shrugging apologetically, he said, “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be good to go.” Then he reached into his side pouch for the waterskin, wincing as the muscles in his side ached in response.

Overall, he would have to say things were actually going better than expected. Despite the number of monster encounters he’d had, he’d come off relatively injury-free. The fact that most of them, the bokoblins, had been wielding swords made it easier, since that was what he’d been trained on, and the best of them held their weapons like a student in their first week of combat training. Apart from the one octorok missile that had slammed him in the back, most of his discomfort came from the fact that he’d had to spend the night sleeping in the grass among a tangle of leaves, rocks, and tree roots. As hospitable as the kikwi had been, it was just about the worst night’s sleep in his life.

He stretched. Checked his supplies – shield fixed up with the help of the old woman’s potion, bag of slingshot seeds full, potion bottle two still full to the brim. With everything set, he pushed himself up and started towards the temple. “Alright. Let’s go help Zelda.”

Fi hovered beside him. “It would be very unwise to display overconfidence here. Within the walls of this place, no one will come to your aid.”

A pause. Well that was a little ominous. “Do you think I’m not ready for this? Because I can’t think of anything else that would help me more than I have, except more time.” He gave a weak laugh. “And that’s not exactly something we can afford.”

Zelda… He didn’t have any doubts about her ability to take care of herself, and the fact that she’d made it this far was even more to support that. Still, the thought of her alone in an enclosed space crawling with monsters…nowhere to run, really…the old woman’s warning about the mysterious leader of the monsters echoing in his mind… It made his sword hand twitch. Not to mention that that reaction alone unsettled him deeply. He’d always been the peaceful one, protective yeah, but certainly nothing like Vayu’s calculated manipulations or Zelda’s “fight me” reactions.

Then again, no one’s lives had been on the line like this before. Sure, no one would be coming to aid him, but _he_ would coming for Zelda. And that was the least he could do.

His gaze hardened and he clenched his hand around the grip of his sword. “Zelda is counting on me. Let’s find her.”

Fi inclined her head slightly. “Then let us continue, Master Link.”

\---

Zelda kneeled at the edge of the platform closest to the Goddess statue. She had changed into the regalia the old woman had given her, after cleaning as much of the mud and leaves off herself as possible. The fact that she had also noticed a hole in one of the knees of her outfit made her just a little bit more smug about her insistence about the clothing thing.

Now though, in the open sunlight of the spring, she forced herself to step away from all that and concentrate on her instructions. The old woman had said that once she purified herself in the spring, she needed to open her mind and spirit to the messages the Goddess had left for her, so that she might understand her mission. Slowly, her mind fell into a meditative state, blocking out the sound of the waterfalls, the brush of wind and scrape of stone on her knees, every stray thought as it wandered into her mind…

She didn’t know how long she stayed like that, but eventually something inside her welled up and she broke concentration. Her knees gave up supporting her weight as she sank down to curl her legs to one side. Hands ran across the soft material of the dress. Deep breathing. She tried again, from this position.

When still nothing happened, she grunted in frustration and kicked her legs out off the edge, splashing spring water out over the pool in arcs. Cupping her hands together, she scooped up some of the water and poured it over her head. “Work! Ugh.” She fell back onto the stone. As she stared up at the sky (which was almost totally cloudless. Weird, given the fact that there was definitely a thick layer of clouds blocking access to and sight of the surface, now that she thought about it), she muttered to herself, “couldn’t have made it a little more obvious? I don’t think there’s many people just wandering around here. If I was the Goddess, I would’ve set it up to recognize my emissary’s magical signature.” She propped herself up with her elbows behind her. “Wait, you can do that, right? I seem to remember that from _some_ book. Hmm…”

After a bit of deliberation, she sat back up. Swishing her legs through the water just enough to feel it move between her feet and the sandals, Zelda held her hands just above her legs, palms facing up but tilted slightly toward one another. _If it_ is _my magical signature Hylia wants, let’s make sure she’s getting enough of it then._ And she concentrated on feeding a bit of her energy into her hands. It was a simple exercise, one of the first practical lessons those wanting to learn magic were given.

The feeling brought back memories of when Vayu had shown it to her years ago. She’d been sitting with him in his room at the academy, probably complaining about classwork or something, when she’d mentioned that she was planning on trying an introductory magic course the next semester…

\---

“But what if it turns out I can’t even _do_ magic and I embarrass myself in front of everyone?” she asked, legs propped up against the wall as she laid across his bed.

Vayu sighed. “You know there are ridiculously few people who can’t do any at all.”

“Yeah, but what if that’s me?” she whined, one foot playing with the edge of a hanging tapestry.

The bed next to her dipped as he scooted over to sit directly next to her. His face appeared, upside-down, in her vision. “Then let’s test it.” A moment where he sat staring at her. “It does, uh, help to be sitting up for this.”

Giving an exaggerated sigh, Zelda flopped her legs to the side so they landed on the bed and pushed herself into a seated position. “Alright, work your magic,” she said as she reoriented to a better proximity to him.

“Very funny.” He took her hands in his.

She flipped her head back as if to say ‘I know, right?’ “So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to show you something,” he guided her arms so their hands were spaced about as far apart as their hips, held over the few inches of space that separated the two of them, “and you’re going to copy it. Now, concentrate on the feeling in your hands, and tell me when you start to get anything different.”

“Oookay” Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on the warmness on the back of her hand, the slight pressure from the way he cupped her hands. Nothing seemed to be changing except a growing desire to swing their hands around or shake her leg, but then, as his thumb traced across her palm, there was the beginnings of a sensation like she’d been sitting on her arms for a time. “It feels…fuzzy? Oh! And warmer? I think?” She squinted, eyes still closed. “Is that right?”

A soft puff of air, accompanied by the suggestion of a vocalization. “It’s not that kind of test. But yeah, you’re picking up on it.” He released his grip. “I was just channeling a little of my magic. It’s the basis for starting any spell or-“ Another laugh. “You can open your eyes.”

The extra warmth that had been leaving her hands fled to her face. “Right. So, uh, you were saying?” She twirled her wrists.

“It’s basically gathering your power so you can actively use it. That’s what I want you to try.” Vayu reached out. “It alright if I touch you to show something?” When she nodded, he tapped a spot a few inches below her collarbone. “Magic taps into your life force, the most basic parts of you, drawing out from the center to the rest of yourself.” Running his hands across her collarbones, over her shoulders, and down her arms to catch her hands in his again, he continued, “you can feel it in the rhythms of your body, sometimes, but it’s also something more.”

Maneuvering her hands so they were clasped together, he squeezed before letting go. “Try cupping them like you’re holding something, and concentrate on the space between them.”

She did so, rocking her hands open and closed. After a few minutes, she thought she could almost feel a slight resistance as she pushed them together. Crouching more into herself, she tried keeping them open and maintaining the hold on that feeling. “I…think I have something? How am I supposed to know if it’s working?”

“Can you make it like there’s something filling that space?” He leaned forward. “Honestly, it is hard to tell until you get used to it.”

“Yeah.” She spread her fingers out, and it felt like there was suddenly an empty space where the extra room was, but not the rest of the area. “Yeah I think so.” She spent another few minutes playing with the feeling before losing it a little. The more she struggled to get it back, the more it disappeared. “Oh.” Looking up, she said, “I lost it.”

Vayu watched her furrow her brows and begin to pout increasingly more as she went back to doing the exercise. “Hold on, no need to force it.” When she glared at him, he sighed. “Alright, you know what, let me get something that should make this easier.” Getting off the bed, he went to the dresser and returned with a small box.

“Aren’t those the lights I got you from when the class went on that multi-island flight exercise?” She tilted her head.

“Exactly.” He retrieved a single wire sphere covered in a soft fabric. “The crystal in the center is made to absorb magic and transfer it into light. Try it again holding that.”

Giving a single, forceful nod, she sat back down. Hard as she tried, something about the material separating her hands seemed to block what she had felt before. After a minute’s thought, she cupped her hands so the light could balance above them and waited until she could feel the connection before sliding the sphere into it like an egg into water for poaching.

Slowly, a light grew behind the fabric until it appeared like there was a small candle flickering inside.

“Vayu! Look Vayu I did it!” She practically flung the ball up in the air as she held her hands up for him to inspect. The brightness threatened to disappear for a moment, but reasserted itself as she steadied herself. “See? Magic!”

Vayu smiled so softly, eyes more than half closed, that it looked more as though he were about to cry.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, no. I’m just-“ He ducked his head, laughing. “You know, you can actually be kind of adorable sometimes. A little.”

“Hey!” She gave her best pout. She softened as her mind processed his tone. “Oh. Well, _yeah_. But I did good, right?”

“Yes, although you will need to work on your concentration.” The light in her hands had completely gone out.

“Oh. I can do it again!”

He placed a hand over it. “I think that’s enough for one try. Using magic is like any other thing you do – it takes energy, and you get better at it as you practice. I don’t want you to overextend yourself.” Biting his lip, he squinted at the sphere she was holding, then gently took it from her. “Here, close your eyes. I want to show you something.”

Zelda complied. Time passed, and she got a little fidgety, but kept her eyes firmly shut and only once stuck her tongue out at him when he told her to keep waiting.

“Alright, now you can open them.”

At first, it seemed like nothing had changed except for the lights being turned off. Then, slowly, pinpricks appeared in her vision, slowly growing to a collection of a half a dozen lights in as many different colors. “What…” she breathed, reaching out for the nearest one. Just before her fingers made contact, it floated out of reach.

As if that had been a signal, all of the lights began to hover around the room, some bobbing in place while others drew patterns or made a slow orbit. The objects they passed were briefly lit, then faded away again. One only drew her attention when it had already gotten up to the side of her. It zipped up to her face, bopped against her nose, and then skittered away before she could even react. Following its path, her gaze was finally drawn back to Vayu as it drifted onto his open palm.

“I- you- how are you-?”

He grinned, a light in his eyes that was probably just a reflection of the floating ones, but she couldn’t have said completely for sure. “Magic.” He shrugged, smile breaking out again. “More complicated but,” Vayu tossed the one in his hands to her, “you practice enough, and maybe you can show me something like this, huh?”

\---

Zelda coaxed her magical energy to flow between her fingers, feeling it expand and contract with her breathing. As it pooled, she formed it into a ball in her hands, stretching them out to accommodate its growth. When her hands had gotten about a foot apart, something about her surroundings seemed to have shifted. She was still in the spring, nothing new or missing, but the taste in her mouth was too sharp, the water currents less pronounced as a nudge against her legs, the sunlight darker but also richer in color. A flash of- something – swept across her consciousness and she lost hold of the energy she had been holding. As she caught her breath, a force compelled her to look up at the Goddess statue as if someone had gently put a hand under her chin. A slow, gentle warmth spread through her as she met the statue’s eyes.

_From the edge of time, I guide you… Spirit Maiden, you have purified yourself in this spring, but a second is hidden away deep within the scorched earth of Eldin. With this blessing, you must travel there before you can begin to learn the full weight of your mission. The light of the Goddess will ease your steps…_

Blinking rapidly as the message in her head faded, she sat still as she processed what she had been told. The old woman had mentioned another spring, but now there was even more to come. Yay.

She picked herself up and went to her bag to change. All she had really wanted was to be a knight, protecting people in Skyloft, maybe even some of the other islands; go exploring the open expanses of the air; and come home and drag Link and Vayu into whatever mischief she could come up with this time. Sighing, Zelda paused halfway through pulling one of her boots on. She _missed_ her boys. The thought had occurred to her before that she should try to go back to the sky and get them, _both_ of them (Goddess and anyone else who objected be damned, find a different spirit maiden if you’ve got such a problem with it), to come along with her. Except the only hint she’d gotten at that even being possible was the goron’s mention of some old stories, and even then, there was the issue of getting back down past the cloud barrier.

So it looked like she was going to be on her own. Which, really, was much more distressing for the two of them, who didn’t have any idea where she was or what was happening to her.        

_Well, that just means I need to get this done as soon as possible so I can get back to them_. With this resolve, she was just about to touch the door she’d entered the spring through to make her way back out when a magical barrier dropped across the door with the force of a physical object. Even as she placed her hand on it to see what was going on, a wave of nausea rippled through her. Something was on the other side of the door, and it certainly didn’t feel friendly.

As she stood there, a not-quite-voice tugged at her mind, the same tone as the message from the Goddess. Now that she thought about it, it was also remarkably similar to the pull she’d felt so many times in the last few weeks up in Skyloft. Groaning, Zelda turned until the force lessened its pull. “All right, fine. I get it. Bad monsters pursuing; got to find a different path.” Slowly, she began to stomp off in that direction. “Well then, lead me out of here Hylia.”


	3. Chapter 3

Vayu had been going through his books when the slow creak of the door interrupted his thoughts. He turned just in time to see Link practically fall through the doorway as soon as his weight had pushed it open enough to fit him through. Dropping what was in his hands, he raced over to catch him. “ _Link_. What happened to you? No, wait. Shh. That was rhetorical,” he said as he guided him to the nearest chair. “Sit, then talk.”

Link visibly winced as he sat. Now that he was out of the gloom of the approaching night, several injuries were clearly evident. The midsection of his tunic was sliced open so the chainmail was clearly visible, and while there wasn’t any blood there, he was holding himself in a way that suggested bruising. His arms and legs sported scratches and spots that looked like they were from something pointed or barbed, from something like an arrowhead, if he had to guess. But most concerning was the gash across most of the right side of his face and the amount of dried blood that had accumulated around it.

“Take off as much of your equipment as you can. I’ll be right back.” When he returned, he let out a breath upon seeing Link move slowly, but with enough coordination to tell him that he hadn’t been too badly hurt. Crouching down, he brought a cloth up to Link’s face to start patching him up.

“Zelda’s okay…” he murmured in reaction to the touch.

Vayu paused. “You saw her?”

He started to shake his head, but stopped. Too dizzy. “No. But Fi sensed her aura, and I kept him from getting to her until she’d left.” A tiny smile as he shakily removed his gloves.

“Him?”

“I…may have run into the guy who attacked Zelda in the first place. Seems like he’s the one in charge of all the monsters and stuff. At least I hope he is. I’d hate to have to fight someone stronger than he is.”

Putting on hand under Link’s chin to tilt his head to check for any other injuries, he said, “Well, you beat _him_.”

Link’s shoulders slumped. “More like he let me live after he realized Zelda had disappeared from the area because it wasn’t worth his time.” He stared Vayu down. “Even during the fight he was just toying with me. I mean, I actually managed to hit him a few times, but he wasn’t hurt by it at all.”

“Oh,” he said softly. Then, after a few minutes’ silence, “here, let me get the chainmail off for you.” When he’d slipped off all the layers and was able to see the bruises across his torso, Vayu took a breath and went into the motions of treating the rest of Link’s injuries. As he did, he kept his gaze firmly on what he was doing.

The sense that he should say something, anything, to reassure Link loomed over him as time stretched on and Link began to recount what had happened on the surface. Even having started out with the knowledge that there was a potentially world-ending catastrophe brewing, the real gravity of it was only reaching him in the details of how vast the surface was, the mysterious old woman’s instructions, the countless fights Link had endured, and the looming specter of the demon lord hunting after Zelda, still alone and now in a completely different region, from the sound of it. And Link was going to have to deal with that all on his own, and he was still managing to sound more composed than would have been expected. The least he could do would be to offer some kind of reassurance, some semblance of help, _something_.

But he kept silent, only offering the slightest of nods and responses to Link’s story as he went on. The thing was, Vayu knew there wasn’t anything he _could_ do that would make anything of a difference. Goddesses and demons and spirits and forces beyond his control, and assuming the Goddess was taking any active part in this, he’d be more likely to harm Zelda and Link than help should she take notice of him being around them at this point.

“…Vayu?” Link was staring down at him, eyes narrowed in concern.

He sighed. “Link, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here. No, look.” He held up a hand. “I want to help, but that’s why I think it’d be better if you went to someone else for help. Practically everyone on the island knows about your mission by now – not everything, but that you’re going to rescue Zelda – and they adore you both. You’ll hardly be wanting for support.”

“That’s silly.” Link crossed his arms, flinching when he hit a bruise. “There’s no reason why you can’t be part of this.”

Vayu glared at him. “Yes, there is. This isn’t like any of the other times; Hylia is directly involved with this, and with you, and according to her, I’m not even a whole person.”

Ignoring his injuries, Link started to rise. “ _Vayu_.”

“I’m only stating a fact, and you know it,” he said, voice just on the edge of becoming icy as he kept still. “This one time, it’s not worth it for you to argue it.”

“Yes it i-“ Tripping over the tangle of all of his dropped items and Vayu at his feet, he collapsed onto the floor directly next to the chair. Shoulders set back, he pushed his way through everything around until he was directly next to Vayu. He grabbed his hands, pausing for a second at how different they felt against the sore not-yet-callouses on his own, and said, “Fi. Analyze.”

Vayu stiffened as the sword spirit appeared next to them and turned her head toward him in particular, but Link kept his grip on him firm, rubbing the edge of his thumbs against his hands as she spoke.

“Subject: Vayu. He possesses a strong magical aura of unique character, although completely within the range of an average human. My analysis indicates that he is lacking in the bond to a loftwing typical of residents of the sky. This anomaly suggests caution, although my scans do not identify anything that would make him a direct threat.”

“Thanks, Fi. That’s all I needed.” He looked back to him as she disappeared back into the sword. “See? Fi was made by Hylia, so if anyone would say something about you being an issue to be around, it’s her.”

“Well, I suppose. But I still got the impression she doesn’t like me very much.”

Link sighed. “She doesn’t _like_ anyone. Emotions aren’t really her thing.” He squeezed Vayu’s hands, shifting his weight so he was inches from his face. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. If the Goddess really had a problem with you, she wouldn’t have picked the two of us, out of all the people in Skyloft. And if she decides she does later,” he pressed his forehead against Vayu’s, “I’m sure I can convince her to like you. That’s not difficult.”

A puff of air brushed against Link’s face. “I do have a way with people sometimes,” he murmured. Then, he pulled his hands back, dragging Link’s with him to press them against his chest. “Thank you.”

“It was nothing.” He tilted his head to kiss the side of Vayu’s forehead. “Now you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Except something happening to you or Zelda.” He laughed.

Link froze. “Zelda! I should go. I still need to activate the column into the next area, and my shield needs repairs, and I think I’m out of potion, and-“ As he spoke, he scrambled to collect his items back into his various bags and pouches, shoving things in wherever they’d fit.

“Link, it’s dark out. You can’t leave the island until morning.”

“Oh.” He deflated slightly. “Right. Is it alright if I stay here? I don’t think I have the energy to deal with people questioning me yet.”

“Of course.” Vayu picked himself off the ground and started towards the kitchen area. “It’ll give me time to fix your tunic anyway.”

Link pulled the green cloth towards him. “You don’t need to do that.” Then, as he held it up and noticed the large hole in one side, “Okay, maybe you should. This is what I get for picking woodcarving as a hobby and not something practical. Although I guess Zelda isn’t going to have much of a use for metalwork or run into anything mechanical either, huh?”

“Because your sword training has been completely impractical, right?” The sounds of various dishes and materials being moved around drifted over along with Vayu’s voice. “Besides, most of the things I’ve learned are practical on purpose. Makes it harder for people to get rid of me.”

“Mmm.” Link gave up on trying to organize things and just pushed them all together into a single pile. He’d deal with that in the morning, once he got an actual decent sleep for once. “Oh yeah, that reminds me,” he said as he walked to Vayu, “did you see Beedle’s new shop?”

Vayu looked up from where he was wrestling with getting a pot out of a cupboard. “The flying one? He’s going to get an earful from Zelda when she gets back; she wanted to get a look at it so badly.”

Leaning into him as he started preparing food, Link traced his shoulderblades absentmindedly. “Yeah, gives him more time to figure out how to stop her from taking it apart.” He laughed, then worked his head to fit against Vayu’s shoulder. “You’re sure she’s going to be alright?” he whispered.

“She’s made it this long, hasn’t she?” came the soft reply. “Worrying won’t help right now, and besides, she’s perfectly sensible. Most of the time.”

\---

If Zelda hadn’t already been panting from the rough climb, her breath would have caught at the sight that awaited her as she reached the top of the cliff. A network of raised platforms of land crisscrossed the valley below, and flowing sluggishly between them was a strange red-brown substance that, as she made her way down to one of the edges, seemed to radiate heat.

_Lava_ , a voice in her head supplied. She paused in the middle of her attempt at dropping a rock into it. Suddenly she recognized the substance, had a name and a vague idea of how it worked. Dropping the rock anyway, she observed as it did exactly what the information in her head suggested it would: sunk most of the way into the liquid before slowly breaking down before it was completely dissolved and engulfed.

Looking up at her surroundings, she noticed a huge mountain in the distance. It was hard to tell, but it appeared to be spilling out more of the lava. A _volcano_.

“Hylia?” she whispered. It was the only thing that made sense, that the Goddess was giving her information for her quest. Well, she certainly wasn’t going to complain, although it might’ve helped not to have the method of transmission feel so weird, like she was remembering something out of context.

Zelda made her way down the pathways, sometimes having to double back when the platform ended before the lava flow. When she finally made it to an extended bridge, she paused in the archway on the other side. Back pressed against the stone surface, she glanced from one side to the other. Nothing was visible in the area, but then again it was just hitting her how weird it was that she hadn’t encountered a single living being since setting foot in the region. Granted, her new knowledge was telling her life was less common in these types of environments, but not even monsters?

Besides, she was now getting the feeling that she was being followed. It was nothing more than that uncomfortable feeling one would get on the back of their neck that makes them feel like there are eyes on them, but given what had happened so far, Zelda was certainly willing to trust it.

It wasn’t until she’d made her way up a steep, sandy incline and made it to what looked like a cluster of abandoned huts that she felt it again. A rustling noise behind her set her on edge immediately as she scanned the area for something she could use as a weapon.

Then, a red shape came out from behind one of the structures. The bokoblin fumbled in its pouch for something.

Zelda dove into a patch of grass. Snatching up the strange round plant that her mind had identified as a _bomb flower_ seconds before, she pitched it toward the bokoblin. It exploded just before the monster could act, reducing it to a puff of purple smoke.

Before she had the chance to celebrate, however, there was the sound of squabbling, and then a loud horn sounded from a spot above and to her left. Another bokoblin stood on a nearby tower, calling its allies to the spot.

Swearing under her breath, Zelda dashed back towards the cliff she had come up, only to notice a few red shapes congregating at the foot. As she turned to find a different route of escape, she was cut off by a dull impact that left her conscious just long enough to notice the group of monsters quickly surrounding her.

\---

Regaining consciousness did little to improve Zelda’s situation, once she had been able to stir herself awake. It was dark, and the air was warm and thick, the smell of smoke and metal steeped into everything. Her head throbbed as she lifted it off the ground, dizzy from heat and probably dehydration. As she moved an arm to push the hair out of her face, there was a clanking sound, and her wrist smacked against a piece of hot metal.

“Ah!” She gasped as it touched a strip of exposed skin above her sleeve, sharp pain after a moment there, dropping her arm back and twisting it in an attempt to force the shackle back down to only be touching fabric again.

That accomplished, she took steadying breaths before opening her eyes again, trying to assess her situation as best she could without actually moving and risking further injury. Her current view afforded her only a glimpse of the ceiling, a rocky mass with a few stalactites a far way above her. Turning her head as far as she dared to either side, she could see an enormous set of red and gold doors decorated with images of strange twisted creatures ( _dragons_ , right, thanks Hylia) on one side, and the other, a long incline of brown stone floor reaching up beyond her field of view, a wall that probably only reached up to the waist as the only barrier between it and a pool of lava below. Curiously, though, no monsters appeared to be around.

“Very hospitable of them,” she muttered under her breath. “Never would have thought I’m supposed to be an important prisoner. You know, emissary of the Goddess and all that.” A scoff. Well, it wasn’t as though she would have been in a position to challenge them anyway. Besides, if this gave her even a fraction more freedom to plan an escape, she would take it.

…How _was_ she going to escape, anyway? Physical means of restraint were pretty well-handled right now, what with the risk of burning herself if she so much as twitched in the wrong direction. Not to mention she didn’t have the faintest idea where she was or whether there’d be a veritable hoard of monsters awaiting her as soon as she left the chamber she was in.

None of that changed the fact that she definitely _did_ need to get out, soon. The old woman’s warnings of the demon leader coming after her hadn’t exactly left her with any illusions of being able to resist should things get that dire, and even if they had, the memory of the magical signature she had felt in the other temple firmly extinguished them.

_Now there’s a thought…_ Even if physical means of escape were denied her, Zelda hadn’t been practicing magic for the past few years without learning a few tricks that should be able to assist her here. She grinned and twisted around so her palms faced upwards. Gathering strength and pushing past the various pains from the earlier tussle, she felt for the pool of energy inside and turned it around, extending her magical senses to her surroundings.

The first thing that touched her awareness was snap of connecting back into that forward tug she had been following as a compass, more insistent than ever, to the point where she almost could have sworn she was being physically being pulled toward the incline just the tiniest amount. The other spring must be very close.

The other thing took longer to register with her, only cutting into her conscious awareness a few minutes later. She had already begun channeling energy into her hands, fingers getting just the slightest bit numb from the accumulation of ice magic, when a voice cut into her mind.

_“Your Grace?”_ The sensation itself was much like the small bits of information or messages that she had already received, but some quality of it clearly suggested a different sender. This voice was stern, but with a hint of fear behind the urgency of the title being called out.

Zelda paused in her efforts. This _probably_ wasn’t some form of trick, given the method of transmission, but then again it never hurt to be cautious. She had already switched the flow of magic from the ice to extending her mental awareness before she realized she wasn’t exactly sure how to go about responding anyway. A frown, face screwed up in concentration. Perhaps, if she-

_“Your Grace, are you alright?”_

_“Yes? Well, no, considering. That’s assuming you_ do _mean me, of course.”_ The second inquiry had caught her so off-guard that she had simply made a reply in her mind, as she was wont to do, and it had come out echoed and… well, ‘glowy’ was the best way she could think of to describe it. Much the same as the messages, that was to say.

For what seemed the longest time after, there was no response, leaving her to wonder if she had been wrong in thinking it had worked, or that she actually wasn’t who the voice had been looking for and was on her own again. Then, a sharp, _“Maintain this connection but do not attempt any other magic. I will join the two of you shortly.”_

Two of you? Zelda rolled her legs around the floor as she thought. She’d never mentioned a companion, so what was giving the impression she wasn’t alone? Another glance around the area as she waited. Perhaps there really was someone else here that she hadn’t noticed. She hoped not, because first of all that would be super creepy, and secondly, it was super inconsiderate of them to be lurking in the shadows this whole time and never bother to help her out.

She didn’t have to spend much longer contemplating that, however, as one of the doors began to glow just enough to be noticeable before creaking open. Through the opening stepped a tall woman, barely distinguishable in the gloom were it not for the accent of bright orange feathers at her waist against the dark colors of the rest of her outfit. She paused against the rock wall until the door slid back closed, then practically flowed towards Zelda, smoothly blending into shadow and patches of light then back again as easy as breathing. A flash of light from her hands, and the chains around her burst open. The woman paused a moment to allow her to prop herself into a sitting position, then immediately dropped to a knee, head bowed to the ground.

“My deepest apologies, Your Grace. I had sworn to accompany you to ensure you would not come to harm, and yet I have only arrived in time to prevent the worst from occurring.”

As the woman spoke, Zelda felt her vision swim, the image of the woman in front of her appearing twice, almost overlapped but just enough not so to notice, although it was more the background that seemed to change than the person herself. There was the cavern floor, tiles barely visible beneath dirt and ash, but also the faintest sight of white stone, deep swirling carvings cut into the floor beneath the woman’s feet. This second vision was much brighter, the kneeling figure lit from the front as if by bright sunlight, although a shade too close to white to be that.

Zelda stared at her just long enough that it was beginning to get awkward that she hadn’t responded before shaking her head. The heat must really be getting to her. That, or she was getting weird feedback from using too much of her magic at once, except visually instead of the ringing in her ears she usually got. “No, it’s alright. You are saving me right now. I mean, from what I was told at the beginning of this thing, I wasn’t expecting to have anyone helping out, so this is a pretty pleasant surprise on its own.” She laughed, but stopped mid-exhale as she noticed the woman tense and look up with a cold expression on her face.

“This is not- Where-“ Her frown deepened, and she got back to her feet. “This is not the place.” Extending a hand, she said, “Come. We must leave before the Demon Lord and his minions return to this place.”

When Zelda stumbled to her feet, clearly still out of it from everything and taking forever to move at all, the woman sighed and scooped her up into her arms.

“Hey!”

“We must hurry,” she said, making a few dozen quick steps up the incline before pausing. “Where…is your ceremonial garb?”

“Well, it was in my bag, and,” she leaned her head over the woman’s shoulder as best she could, “I think I saw it left next to me when I woke up earlier.”

The woman turned to collect her bag and hurried back up the long path and through the door on the far end, which upon their approach, opened much like all the doors and traps in the previous temple had, simply melting away only to re-form once Zelda had passed through them. Still silent, she deposited Zelda on the floor and turned back to the door, placing her palms on it with a shower of sparks.

Seeing she was likely going to be occupied for a little doing whatever magic, Zelda decided to leave the woman to it in favor of exploring this new area. The air, although still a bit stuffy, was much cleaner without the constant coating of ash on the tongue. As she made careful steps down the hall, the white pillars, cool to her touch as she pressed against them for balance, gave way to an open space set up in much the same way as the previous spring, albeit darker from a lack of natural lighting available.

Lowering herself to the floor again, she eased off her boots before dipping her feet into the water. The moment they made contact, the skin of her wrist, as well as a section of her head began to itch. Bringing the arm up to inspect showed her a shiny patch of skin, raised and lighter than the surrounding area. Under her gaze, it simply faded away, leaving her without even the slightest mark to indicate that she’d been burnt not an hour ago. As she brought a hand up to her head, the dull ache from being struck earlier disappeared as well.

“Huh,” she muttered, splashing up a bit of water onto another of the raised platforms. “Pretty useful. Thanks Hylia, I guess?” Briefly, she wondered if the healing properties would last if she tried carrying the water off with her, and was rooting through her bag for her waterskin when the woman approached her.

“Why are you alone?”

Zelda leaned backwards to look at her while she was talking, legs still lightly splashing through the water. “I got dropped down here by myself, and the woman who told me about my quest didn’t say anything about a guide, so…” She fell silent under the other’s cold gaze, which still had not changed from when she’d noticed that Zelda wasn’t wearing her fancy dress.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she stepped to the side and into the spring so that she could speak facing Zelda. “And what of your champion? Surely you were made aware of the one blessed with the Goddess Sword, sworn to protect you on your mission?” She waved a hand to silence the protests she saw forming on Zelda’s face. “No, I understand. I encountered the boy on my way here.”

“Link! Is he alright?” Springing to her feet with enough force to drench the both of them with the splash, she grabbed the woman’s arm.

“Hmph.” She turned her head to the side, glaring off into the distance. “He appeared in well enough shape, although not enough it seems to carry out his task…” Finally relaxing from her rigid upright stance, she slid her arm out of Zelda’s grasp and placed it on her shoulder. “Come. You must complete your meditations here so that we may continue with our mission. Other, trivial concerns may wait.”

Worrying about the well-being of her one boyfriend was hardly what she would call _trivial_ , but given that this woman _had_ saved her life, Zelda was willing to trust in her report of Link being alright for now. It was more information than anything else she’d gotten since this whole thing had started, and she had faith in his abilities.

Silently, she washed the dirt and soot off as best she could, changing into her regalia once more before settling into the same motions she had completed in the other spring. This time came easier, slipping into the warm flow of magic and the hypnotic gaze of the Goddess Statue not long after she had properly channeled her own power.

_From the edge of time, I guide you… Spirit Maiden, blessed with the dual power of my springs, your path now guides you to a fated place. The parched desert of Lanayru…there you will pass through the Gate of Time into a distant world. Only there will you regain the knowledge needed to banish the evil that still clings to this world._

\---

“That will not be necessary.”

Zelda froze, the hand holding her sandals hovering over her bag with half a grip on them.

The woman made her way across the platforms, face impassive. With surprising gentleness, she prized the shoes from her hand, placing one down next to her. “What you have been chosen to be a part of is far larger than any mortal,” she said, placing one hand behind the heel of Zelda’s foot, propping it up so that she could slip the sandal back on. “And therefore, you must become more than any one person yourself. You must learn to put away your own concerns, which will only serve to distract you from your mission.” She fastened the straps of the other sandal, the tiniest bit too tight. Looking up into Zelda’s eyes, she took on another stern expression. “You may retain your human possessions, but this task requires a mind dedicated to the spirit, so kept away and not on your person they need remain. Am I understood?”

The impulse to protest died under the continued glare she was receiving, the absolute seriousness imparting more of a sense of gravity on her than any teacher had ever managed. Zelda closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes, I understand.”

As they stood, the woman leading her back towards the main platform, she paused behind for a second to place a hand just below her collarbone. Pressing her palm against the shape underneath, she let out a sigh before dropping her arm to the side and hurrying back into step behind her guide.

\---

As the monster exploded into curls of purple smoke and another of those weird heart containers, Link collapsed to the ground, feeling the jarring impact in every bruised portion of his body, which was a lot of him, actually. Letting his sword rest beside him, he gasped in a lungful of air. Which he almost immediately coughed out in a fit from how much smoke there still was from the fiery creature, still trying to kill him from beyond the grave it seemed.

This temple hadn’t exactly been easy. Not that Link had made it any simpler for himself, having rushed in and through it after hearing the mogmas outside the entrance discussing how they’d seen monsters carrying someone who matched Zelda’s description inside. Only moments before this fight had he found out that she was fine, apparently spirited away from Ghirahim’s clutches by some as yet unseen helper, so this was the closest thing to rest he’d had in… well, whatever amount of time had passed since he’d arrived in Eldin, it was hard to tell being in all these caves.

But with the slaying of that beast, his work here was almost done. All he needed to do now was head for the spring and collect whatever information and weird stone tablets this one decided to give him, and things would be fine.

Two steps past the door into the spring, and Link found himself frozen in place.

Standing at the top of the stairs was the person in dark clothing he had seen before, outside the temple. To her other side, standing just outside the circle of light that appeared to take up most of the floor, was Zelda.

She hesitated in her movement towards the circle, then broke into a smile and spun around to face him fully. “Link!” Making to practically bound down the stairs, she was stopped in her tracks when the woman threw an arm in front of her path.

“You cannot go to him, Your Grace. Remember what we discussed. Restrain yourself. Focus on the task at hand.”

Zelda’s eyes grew wide, and her hands clutched at the arm now around her waist that was pressing her back. Looking up to the woman with a pleading expression, she said, “He’s supposed to be part of this mission too, isn’t he? If Link’s meant to protect me, I don’t see how he could do that if he doesn’t come with us.” Hoo boy, she was breaking out the sad lip tremble that always broke her father.

She, however, remained unaffected. “His part in this is not meant to be quite so literal. Especially when one is forced to question his suitability.” A glare shot in his direction before turning back to her. “You had told me you understood the need to separate yourself from your needs as a mortal. If you cannot even do this much, we have even more work ahead of us than I feared.”

“I-I… That’s not fair!” Zelda burst out, attempting one more escape from the iron grip. “I didn’t exactly choose this, and Hylia’s not that kind of Goddess, to require her followers to make these kind of sacrifices!”

“You are not an ordinary follower, and this mission is not to be taken so lightly,” she practically growled. “We are leaving now, and I refuse to make this harder for us than it needs to be.” With a grip just a bit stronger than it really needed, she guided Zelda forward and into the circle, where she disappeared with a burst of more light.

As the woman made to follow, Link rushed up the stairs, hoping for the chance to follow them and find out what, exactly, was going on. The moment he reached the top, she looked back at him with a ferocious glare that stopped him dead in his tracks.

“It took you far too long to get here. Looking at you, I fear the goddess is mistaken in her choice of agents. If this failure is any indication, you have no hope of defending Her Grace from those who seek to assail her.”

Link only realized how tensed he was for a fight after his hand had already made it a third of the way to his bag, and forced it back. He narrowed his eyes at her, practically shaking as his mind raced to find a reply. “ _Look_ ,” he finally said, intending for it to come out in an angry growl but instead achieving something more akin to a half-sob. He wasn’t even sure if she could hear him. “You think I’m not trying? That I wouldn’t and aren’t doing literally everything that I can to make sure Zelda stays safe?”

“And you think that matters? All the concern in the world is nothing against the forces which wish to tear this world asunder.” She scowled at him. “Do my words anger you, boy? Do my words sting? Let them. If I had not come when I did, your Zelda would already have fallen into the hands of the enemy. The truth of it is you were late. You were late, and you failed to protect her.” With a dismissive huff, she turned back away from him again.

Now he was definitely shaking, head lowered in defeat as he tried to avoid breaking down.

“I sent Zelda ahead to learn more of the fate in which she is destined to play a part. _Without_ the distractions it seems your presence is bound to provide.” She stopped just outside the circle, still facing away from him. “Listen well, _chosen one_. If you wish to be of help to Her Grace, you must show the same dedication to the mission that I am _attempting_ to instill in her. Lose whatever mortal concerns are tethering you from a full commitment to this mission. Only when you’ve done this and conquered the trials set before you will you be of use to Zelda. No sooner. Am I understood?” Without actually waiting for a response, she stepped forward and disappeared into the light, which blazed brighter for a moment before disappearing completely, leaving Link alone in the spring.


End file.
